Letting Agents Walsall

Can Empty Properties in Walsall be the Solution to our Housing Crisis?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , , ,
Can Empty Properties in Walsall be the Solution to our Housing Crisis?
Can Empty Properties in Walsall be the Solution to our Housing Crisis?

Easy problems should have easy solutions  – shouldn’t they?

Problems like Walsall’s housing crisis, where we have a rudimentary numerical problem of too few homes for too many people… the answer is clearly to build more property in Walsall – but that, unfortunately for those desperately seeking to purchase or let a property, takes a lot of time and huge amounts of money.  So what of other solutions?

Whilst at the first BBQ of the ‘summer’ with friends recently, the subject of property was mentioned, as it usually does when I’m around!  During this particular conversation, someone mentioned empty properties as the solution to the problem.  On the face of it, it seems so obvious.  It got me thinking so, the next day; I did some research on this topic to see if this was a plausible potential solution.  The results of which are very interesting indeed…!

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Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!
Walsall Private Renters Enjoy Better Health!!

Renting used to be a dirty word in the 60’s and 70’s.  You either lived in a ‘Rigsby Rising Damp’ style bedsit with wood chip on the wall and a coin operated electric meter that buzzed in the night, or you lived in a council house.  In the latter part of the 20th Century, the British were persuaded that rent payments were ‘wasted money’.  However, owning often makes less financial sense than renting and as the rate of home ownership is starting to drop substantially, as we roll the clock forward to today, there is no stigma at all to renting.. everyone is doing it.  In fact, of the 269,323 residents of Walsall, 96,418 of you rent your house from the local authority, housing association or private landlords – meaning 35.8% of Walsall people are tenants.

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Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , , ,
Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!
Walsall rental market sees returns of 11.9% in 2015!

One of my out of Town property landlords called me as he was coming to visit his family and friends towards the end of the month during the Easter break.  He was born and brought up in Walsall and went to the Alumwell Business and Enterprise College which, as he recalls, used to be called the Alumwell Secondary School (way before my time of course!!).

To enhance his retirement, he has a small portfolio of four properties in the Walsall and surrounding area and wanted my advice on where to purchase his next buy to let property.  As a University lecturer he lives in a college-owned flat and would never dream of buying where he lives in Kensington where the average value of a flat is £1.62m and a house averages out at £4.1m.

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Walsall landlords could be fined £1,188,000!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,
Walsall landlords could be fined £1,188,000!!
Walsall landlords could be fined £1,188,000!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG (Oh My Gosh/ God for the old school peeps), said one of our tenants signing up last Saturday!!  This is when they saw the load of paperwork they had to sign.  Gone are the days when you could just ask for a word of mouth referral, collect a copy of a Tenancy Agreement from the local WH Smith and Bob’s your tenant (or is it??).

Amongst the hoard of documents I had were the Right to Rent Guide, copy of the Energy Performance Certificate, a current Gas Cert, an Electric Report, a Schedule of Conditions and Inventory, Prescribed Information and Terms & Conditions of the deposit scheme where the deposit was registered/ kept plus a few other bits…so the sharp intake of breath was understandable.

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The death of home ownership in Walsall…??

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,

house ownership

I had the most interesting chat with a mature couple (in their early/mid 50’s) from the Aldridge area the other day, whilst viewing one of our rental properties.  The property wasn’t for them, but their son, who wanted a second viewing with his parents to get the parental blessing.  Now I know that isn’t the norm, but in this case the parents were going to act as guarantor.  We got chatting about the Walsall property market and how they had bought their first property in the town just after they got married in the late 1980’s when they were in their early/mid 20’s.

Anyway, we got chatting about how the youngsters of the UK seem to rent more than buy nowadays and from that the conversation covered a number of similar topics.  I want to share the highlights of that conversation with you today.

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Walsall Property Market or The London Stock Exchange? Where shall I put my savings…??

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,

House Cash

It is almost 7 years since Mervyn King, the then Bank of England Governor, slashed UK interest rates to the unparalleled figure of 0.5% – 5th March 2009 to be precise!  In just under five months, starting on 8th October 2008, the rate had come down from 4.5% to that low figure, all in an attempt to ensure the British economy survived the worldwide credit crunch and there it has stayed since.

In the Summer of 2015, people were predicting a rise in the New Year, yet now, some forecast it may stay at this level for years yet to come with the issues in China.  Now, I am not some City Whiz kid with a hotline to Mr Carney at Threadneedle Street, but merely a humble letting agent from Walsall, so I cannot profess to know what will happen to interest rates.  However, what I do know, speaking to my Walsall friends and Walsall landlords is that these low interest rates have hit savers really hard.

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The Walsall Property Almanac – 2021!!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,

Market Next

I just love the salad bar at Harvester.  So when I heard my stomach rumbling at an according time I obeyed it and headed straight to the Harvester in Walsall on the A34 to Birmingham.  As I entered I was approached by someone who I didn’t recognise.  He turned out to be a local solicitor who subscribes to my Blog and said he was an avid reader.  He had a few questions and wanted to talk about property investments as he had a small portfolio and was curious to pick my thoughts.  He asked me my prediction on the Walsall Property Market for the next five years.  So, we had lunch at my favourite salad bar and discussed my favourite subject – the Walsall Property Market.  What a result!!

Property prices are both a British national obsession and a key driver of the British consumer economy. So what will happen next for the Walsall Property Market?  Here’s what I told him….

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SOLD!! 3 Bed Semi in Delves, Walsall, WS5 – Yields of 6.0%

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Buy to Let Property Deals , , , , , , , , ,

IMG_8097

Just thought for a change I would inform you about a property I wrote about on the blog a few weeks ago.  The property has now been sold (STC).  At this stage I’m not sure if it has been purchased as a principal home or for buy to let.  I will monitor this and confirm on a later post once the figures are in.  The full details of my post can be found below by following the link:

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The ‘Liquorice Allsorts’ – Walsall Property Market!

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , , ,

ALLSORTS

I had an interesting meeting with one of my local Walsall landlords this weekend.  He wanted some advice around his current existing portfolio which he was looking to expand in a new direction by adding properties that would give him a higher rental yield today.  I’ve always advocated having a portfolio of a mixed bag of properties.  Looking at his current portfolio I noticed that they consisted of properties with generally a low or average yields so as usual this made me think about the Walsall Property Market.  In general a mixed bag of ‘liquorice allsorts’ (in property terms) can ease current cash flow and build you a nice nest egg for the future.

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Are Walsall tenants priced out of the Walsall Property Market?

Head of Juicing @Ashmore Lettings & Sales Ltd Walsall Property Market , , , , ,

Cash Pic

I had an interesting chat with a property landlord the other day about my thoughts on the Walsall Property Market.  The subject of the affordability gap between renting property in Walsall against purchasing came up in conversation and how that would affect tenant demand.  As a local Property Manager I have noticed how, in recent years, our tenancies are being sustained with tenants staying with us for longer.  So my curiosity got the better of me and I just had to take a look at the figures.  Here’s what I found…

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